Parables of the Bible: Laughter
by Wilona Riva
Summary: Isaac's story.  Picks up where Abram's Call left off.
1. Willing Child

Parables of the Bible: Laughter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bible.

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Author's Note: It's ultra-short, I know. It picks up where _Abram's Call _left off.

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**Willing Child**

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**When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" (Genesis 22:9-11)**

Thana screamed as the angel Raphael blasted her backwards. "The boy is mine!" she screamed.

"You have no place here, demon!" Raphael roared back.

Sword met sword as the two angels battled.

**"Do not hurt the boy," **the Voice says, as the ropes binding me are loosed.

_Why? Why do this to me? To my father?_

_You cannot fathom the fear I felt, as my father bound my arms behind me. I trusted him completely. I love him._

_All the way up the mountain, one thing kept nagging me. We've got the wood, the rope, the knife. But where was the lamb for the offering?_

_I was the lamb._

_Why? What did all this mean?_

_Father, help me to understand!_

"Isaac, look, there in the thicket, a ram," my father, Abraham, says releasing his cold, sweaty hands from my shoulders.

_Simple trust is faith._

Raphael slammed his sword into the earth. "Why sentence an innocent child to death?" he shouted to the skies. "He never committed a crime. He trusted his father, even though it meant his life would be taken from him by that loving father. What was the purpose of this test?"

The Son bit His lip. The angel's questions hit closer to home than he realized. The next time, the flesh would be sacrificed, pierced. Blood would flow and the lamb would die. The Lamb would die.


	2. The Soul of Death

Parables of the Bible: Laughter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bible.

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**The Soul of Death**

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"You called for me, Sir?" Araton asked.

"Yes, Thanatos has stolen a soul this night. You remember Abraham?" the Son inquired.

"Who doesn't?" the angel countered.

"You are to travel to the realm of Hades and bring back the soul of Sarah," the Son instructed. "Place her in the treasure holt of Sheol. When the time comes, I will bring her home."

"Yes, Sir," Araton said, bowing low to the Lord.

"Father be with you, My son," the Lord whispered.

**Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. (Genesis 23:1-2)**

**Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. (Genesis 25:1-2)**

**Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight curent among the merchants. So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre-both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field-was deeded to Abraham as his property...Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. (Genesis 23:16-19a)**

"And I still say it's highway robbery!" Jokshan yelled.

"Father, please listen to reason," Zimran pleaded.

Abraham turned to his heir. "What say you, Isaac?"

"It doesn't matter the cost," Isaac said, thinking for a moment. "We need a plot of land to bury our dead. The least we can do is pay for it-highway robbery or no."

Abraham nodded. "There is much of your mother in you, my son. Zimran! Jokshan! Go help your mother set up the eating tent."

Both men obeyed at once. "Yes, Father!"

Isaac waited until they left. The tears that had been threatening to fall, now burst the dam. "I'm going to miss her."

Abraham's own tears glistened on his cheeks. "Your mother's orneryness and humor filled our lives to overflowing. I loved her greatly."

Isaac nodded. "I'm glad you still have Keturah, Father."

Abraham nodded. "When the period of mourning is over, my son, would you object if I made her my full wife. She won't take your mother's place, but I need her as much as I needed Sarah."

Isaac agreed. "Keturah has always been a second mother to me, Father," he said. "It would be an honor."

Abraham sighed. "Ishmael sent a messenger, yesterday. He will come in three moonrises for the burial."

Isaac hissed. "Figures, he'd wait until she's dead to come and visit."

"Isaac!"

Isaac bowed his head. "Sorry, Father."

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The realm of Hades stunk of rotting flesh and overripe pomegranates.

"Ugh!" Araton exclaimed, warding off the smell with one sleeve of his arm. "How am I going to find one soul in all this hideous place?"

"Hideous, you say?" a crow answered. "Yes, but maybe I can help you. For a fee, no?"

Araton glared at the creature. "What fee?"

"Take me with you when you leave, yes?"

Araton sighed. "Between a rock and a hard place," he muttered. He agreed to the crow's terms.

"You looking for something, no?" the bird asked curiously.

"A soul," the angel replied. "A soul was stolen from my King. He wants what is His to be returned."

"Do you play games, angel?" Thanatos asked, appearing from out of a sulphuric cloud of brimstone. "If you win, the soul of Sarah goes with you. If you lose, you stay here forever."

"Game fun, yes?" the bird asked.

Araton never so much wanted to strangle anything in his life.


	3. In Search for a Kiss

Parables of the Bible: Laughter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible.

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**In Search For a Kiss**

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**So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. (Genesis 24:66b)**

Soterasiel thought back on the events of the past few months.

There was a deep hurt inside of Abraham's son. Not even the thought of his father's quiet nuptials with Keturah, hunting with his new brothers, or the burial of his mother comforted him.

He was lonely.

The Great King's heart was stirred. **"He needs a woman in his life."**

Soterasiel quite agreed with his King, when he received the summons. "I will follow Eleazar, Abraham's steward, and do as my Lord wishes."

**"Be strong of heart," **the Great King told him.

When they reached, the smells and stench of Nahor nearly bowled the angel over. Lillith, who was sitting nearby in a tree, laughed her head off.

"Can't even fly straight anymore, can you?" she jeered.

"Oh, be quiet," Soterasiel grumbled, rubbing his aching shoulder blades.

"Want me to massage it for you, big boy?" she asked suggestively.

"No!" he shouted, flying as far away from her as possible. Angels of the Most High did not reproduce like humans. They were created as they were meant to be.

Lillith's mocking laughter followed him.

**"Go to the village well," **the Great King told him. **"Find Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, and repeat these words to her."**

Soterasiel was strictly forbidden to take human form, but he could whisper the words to her. Human subconcious would take it from there.

Sure enough, she approached Eleazar and repeated Soterasiel's words and followed them to the letter.

All in all, the longing looking Isaac shared with Rebekah was enough to tell Soterasiel that this was a match made in heaven. If he didn't know any better, he would say that the Lord was manipulating the bloodlines of humans in order to produce something. But who or what, Soterasiel could not say.

Isaac kissed Rebekah and laid her gently down on the mat they shared.

Soterasiel looked discretely away, as Isaac removed his outer garment.

"Maybe just a peek?" Lillith suggested, leaning into him.

Soterasiel thrust her from him and bit his lip to keep back from saying words he'd regret later.


	4. Years in the Weeping

Parables of the Bible: Laughter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible.

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**Years in the Weeping**

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**Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. (Genesis 25:5)**

**Altogether Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:7-8)**

_My name is Campucine._

_I am a scribe in the Library. My name derives from my eyes._

_Today, the Holy of Holy Ones has asked me to record the life story of Abraham, His friend. _

_It is rare for the Great King to call any one of His creations 'friend'. And Abraham was a true friend to the Lord._

_He always obeyed, screwed up a few times (like all humans do, rarely ever questioned the Lord, and under went the hardest tests any father ever had to endure._

_Today, Abraham, the Father of Many Nations, has gone the way of the earth._

_(That means he died, you nitwit angels who didn't pay attention in Human Poetics Class.)_

_I am dutifully sitting in a tree near the cave of Machpelah. Near me are Abraham's sons._

_By Hagar the concubine:_

_Ishmael._

_By Sarah (first wife):_

_Isaac, the Child of the Promise_

_By Keturah (second wife):_

_Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah._

_Abraham gave each of his sons by Keturah a part of the land and sent them off away from Isaac not long before his death. Each son has returned to the fold to pay his respects to the old patriarch._

_Tears flow down my face as I watch the humans tenderly say good-bye. Each of the sons leaves a small gift for the old man, a bit of a reminder for him of how much they loved him and would miss him._

_Among the crowd outside the family gathering, I can see representatives of the Hittites, Egyptians, Canaanites, Jebusites, Philistines, and other peoples of the land. There wasn't a single nation not represented among them all that Abraham's life didn't touch._

_Many of them, I know, I will see someday walking the streets of gold. All coming to faith in our Lord by the life of this one man._

_I have to stop writing now._

_I miss Abraham too!_


	5. Children of the Beginning

Parables of the Bible: Laughter

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible.

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**Children of the Beginning**

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Oh, she knew the whispers, the rumors which followed her about the encampment.

She was accursed because she was barren.

So what? Maybe she was another Sarah.

She sighed. "Who am I kidding?"

Rebekah crumpled to the ground and groaned. "Lord, I am barren, accursed amongst my people for I have no child. What sins have I committed that You would curse me so? You promised to Abraham that he would have many descendants through his son Isaac, but no seed has taken root in my womb."

The Great One had pity on her that evening, for another had also interceded for her.

(Many months later)

Isaac was laughing as he felt the movement in her womb. "Sounds like they're fighting in there. Twins are very rare in my family."

Rebekah gave a wry smile. "Weren't Medan and Midian visiting with their rather large families last month at the harvesting?"

Isaac laughed. "Okay, okay. You've got me. Keturah did give birth to them in one sitting."

Rebekah punched his arm playfully. "You couldn't tell they were twins by looking at them. I just wish ours weren't so active." She winced as the 'action' started up again.

"We're definitely going to have our hands full with these two," Isaac said, massaging her shoulders.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

**The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." **

**When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red...they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. (Genesis 25: 23-26)**


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